


Enchanter Pavus

by greyvvardenfell



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:33:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26439559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyvvardenfell/pseuds/greyvvardenfell
Summary: Dorian travels to Haven for the first time.
Relationships: Male Lavellan/Dorian Pavus
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18





	Enchanter Pavus

**Author's Note:**

> This is ancient (from 2018), and I'm just now adding it to Ao3. Don't mind me.

Jakariel could feel himself falling asleep even as he tried to will himself not to. The drafty room his advisers had commandeered as a council chamber in the Haven chantry held nothing to distract him from the boredom of the meeting and the journey back from Redcliffe after the near-disastrous rendezvous with the mage rebellion was catching up to him at last. His muscles ached, the wound on his ribs from a wildly-cast Venatori spell burned under its elfroot poultice, and the angry, endless arguments of Cullen, Leliana, Cassandra, and Josephine were fading into a hum, luring him into more pleasant thoughts of more pleasant people, like one particular mage he’d met in the sprawling lakeside village — **  
**

“Jakariel!”

He startled, blinking the Fade from his golden eyes. “Yep, yeah,” he said, deep voice thick with disuse. He cleared his throat. “I agree with, um —” Jak met the gaze of the closest adviser, “—whatever Josephine thinks.”

Josephine hid her smile behind her hand as Cullen and Cassandra shared exasperated looks. “You really ought to be paying attention, Herald,” the Seeker snapped. “This is no time to be dozing off.”

With effort, he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Of course it isn’t,” he said as he leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Even for me, your savior made flesh.” Jakariel arched his back in a luxurious stretch and splayed his nimble archer’s fingers.

Cassandra made a noise of disgust. “Do not mock us, Her— Ser Lavellan. These are desperate times.”

Jakariel couldn’t restrain his eye-roll again. He rose from the rickety chair and held up his left hand, fist clenched around the glowing line of unearthly green across his palm. With one pale blond brow raised, he surveyed the room and watched each adviser’s eyes drop to the floor to avoid him. “If there’s one thing you don’t need to remind me of,” he said slowly as he let his hand fall, “it’s the nature of our current situation.”

The small chamber fell silent, the chill more pronounced in the wake of Jakariel’s words. He stepped up to the table cluttered with maps and charts and began to look them over, grabbing one at random and scanning it. “Catch me up,” he said to no one in particular when the sketchy reproduction of farmlands outside a town he didn’t recognize offered no clues. “And if anyone calls me ‘Herald’ again, I swear I will turn around and walk out.”

The four councillors looked at each other briefly before Leliana spoke, her Orlesian syllables flowing over each other like rich velvet. “Your findings in Redcliffe were most troubling, Jakariel. Of course, the Templars will no longer meet with us after discovering that we have consorted with the mage rebellion, as we thought. Cullen has been unable to make contact with any of the friends he still had in the order since your return.”

The commander’s jaw clenched as he turned away. “I stand by your decision,” he said quietly. “Whatever was lost, was lost.”

Jak frowned. Cullen, as reticent as he was, had revealed to him in confidence some of what he’d lost already, and Jakariel was loathe to add to his burdens.

“And on top of that,” Josephine interjected, “Fiona’s diplomats, followed by our own, have thus far been slow to make progress in the Circles more further removed from population centers, those that were isolated longer.” She shook her head, loosening strands of her sleek black hair from its bun. “The mages, such that we have, are a boon to us, but there are problems we did not forsee.”

“Isn’t that how this kind of thing goes?” asked Jakariel wryly, earning a laugh from both Leliana and Josephine.

“You learn quickly, Jakariel,” the ambassador said, patting his arm.

“So I’ve been told.” Jak shuffled a sheaf of papers, buying a moment of time. “Have we heard anything from the mage who helped me? He, ah, he said he’d be in touch.”

Josephine tilted her head, eyes bright. “Enchanter Pavus?”

“Mm. He didn’t leave Redcliffe with the rest of us, said he had some things to wrap up there. Or something.”

Leliana, Cassandra, and Josephine shared glances. “We received word that he would be arriving sometime today. Soon, I expect, with the fair weather,” Leliana said, a smile behind her words.

Jakariel tapped his stack of papers on the tabletop, aligning them neatly. “Good. I hoped he’d be coming this way. He’s a talented mage and probably has good intel on the Tevinters.” He kept his tone even, tamping down his racing heart.

“I’m not sure about that,” said Cullen, his brows furrowed. “A Tevinter mage’s intelligence on other Tevinter mages shouldn’t be taken at face value. We don’t know how deep his involvement in this goes.” He shouldered forward and rested his gloved hands on the table, bearskin flowing down his back like a lion’s mane. “He could be a threat.”

Jak felt a thrill of rage build behind his sternum and flow out to the tips of his fingers, pushed on by the surging beats of his heart so recently kicked into action. He narrowed his eyes and sucked in a breath, carefully funnelling the feeling into biting contempt. “With all due respect, Cullen, you weren’t there.” He placed the pile of maps on the table and smoothed them carefully, taking his time as he chose his words. “I fought side-by-side with Enchanter Pavus through a future hellscape as real as this room. He saved me more times than I can remember in less than a day. Without him, your resistance would have died with me, just like Alexius wanted. You didn’t see what we saw. None of you did.” He paused to take in the others. “Again, all due respect, but you cannot imagine what it was like. I couldn’t have either, before I was there. People like you, you can’t base things on imagination. But I can. And I can say without a doubt that Dorian — Enchanter Pavus — is an ally, a strong one. A friend. And we can’t deny friends being dropped right in our laps, especially when the ones we try to recruit, like the rebel mages, aren’t going to plan anyway. I can say, and will say, that there’s no one I’d rather have on our side, present or future.”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself.” A new voice, proud and strong, filled the small chamber, forcing the drafty chill from Jakariel’s bones with its presence. Leaning against the doorframe, Dorian himself cut a dashing figure, despite being worn from travel with a half-healed cut across one prominent cheekbone. “Does that mean I’m hired?”

Cullen straightened immediately, falling into his commander role like he’d never shown weakness in his life. Cassandra and Leliana stayed back while Josephine hurried up to greet Dorian eagerly, ushering him into the room. Jak couldn’t keep the blush from his nut-brown cheeks as he too stood taller, meeting Dorian’s gaze as the mage came closer.

“It’s nice to see you again, err, Enchanter,” Jakariel said hesitantly.

“And you,” Dorian paused, a smirk on his lips, “Herald.”

“Ugh, please, Jakariel is fine.”

“I must insist with the same vehemence that you call me Dorian. After all, we’re friends, aren’t we?”

Dorian’s eyes flashed with something Jak couldn’t place, but he laughed through it. “I don’t give speeches like that if I don’t mean it.”


End file.
